George willard douglas



(No. Model.)

GAR- FENDER.

No. 601,242. Patente Mar129, 1898',

fiifmsses v luv/e22 far ear a Xi Wrigl- UNITED STATES" PATENT OFFICE,

GEORGE WILLARD DOUGLAS, OF SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA, ASSIGNOR TO THEMARKET STREET RAILWAY COMPANY, OF SAME PLACE.

CAR-FENDER.

SPECIFICATION formingpart of Letters ljatent No. 601,242, dated March29, 1898.

Application filed November 29, 1897- Serial No. 660,126. (No model.)

T0 at whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, GEORGE WILLARD- DOUGLAS, a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing in the city and county of San Francisco and State ofCalifornia, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inCar-Fenders; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear,and exact description of the same.

My invention relates to that class of car-fenders or safety-guards forcars in which the fender proper is carried normally above the road-bedin a safe but substantially inoperative position and is thrown intoaction either automatically by the contact of the obstructing body witha trigger-guard in front or intentionally by the operation by themotorman orv gripman of suitable levers, whereby the'carrying or holdingdevices of the fender are tripped and said fenderis permitted to movedown into position to receive the body and prevent it, either by pickingit 'up or by rolling it ofi, from getting under the wheels.

The object of my invention is to provide a fender of this class of suchsimple construction that it will not get out of order, but yet shallbeeffectivein operation and generally shall answer all the variedconditions of car construction and travel; and with these ends in viewmy invention consists in the novel construction and arrangement of the.fender, the trigger-guard, and the intervening holding and trippingmechanism, which I shall hereinafter fully describefby reference to theaccompanying drawings, in which- Figure l is a plan ofmyfender; and Fig.2 is a vertical longitudinal section of same on line w 00 of Fig. 1,showing also the car floor and frame. V

. A is a portion of the car floor and frame, andB is one of the fixedbeams of the truck, the remainder of which need not be herein shown. I 1

,C is the fender proper orapron'. It may be constructed invarious ways;but I deem the best form that here shownnamely, a series of spring-steelrods bent as in Fig. 2, their lower extremities carrying cushion-rollersc, and the whole forming a kind of scoop extending 5o transversely overtheroad-bed. The upper ends of these rods are secured to a head 0, towhich are pivoted at c the carrying-arms 0 which extend backwardly anddownwardly and are secured to a cross-plate c, which at its lower backedge and near each end is hinged to a bracket 79, secured to truck-beamB, said hingebeing shown at b. Braces c strengthen arms 0 The apron orfender C, notwithstanding its pivotal connection at c with arms 0 isheld in normal position by springs a", seated between the plate a and across-bar c on the backs of the apron-rods, and these springs so holdthe apron that its foot is carried normally high enough above theroad-bed to be perfectly safe from injury. At the same time contact withthe foot of the apron will force it down to the road-bed, in whichmovement it turns about its hinges at 0 pressing backwardl y against itssprings 0 The apron has, however, a more positive action thanthisnamely, one by which it is enabled to drop its foot down to theroad-bed prior to any contact and in preparation therefor. Thismoveme'zijit is effected about its hinge connection at The whole apronis held up in its normal position by means of a rearwardly-extending armD, projecting from the top of cross-plate c and braced thereto by a rod01. This arm has a downturned rear extremity d.

Pivoted to a bracket b of truck-beam B is a trigger-lever E, controlledby a spring 6 and having secured to it a pin e, which projects directlyover the arm D and finds a seat against a shoulder d on said arm. Now aslong as this trigger-lever E, under the control of its spring e, is heldforwardto its seat the cross-pin e bears upon and holds down the arm D,which, unable to rise as it would have to do if the plate 0 turned abouthinge 1), thereby holds said plate up, and thus carries the whole fenderor apron in its normally inactive position; but if the trigger-lever Ebe pushed back, so as to cause its pin 6 tofree the arm D, the wholefender willturn about hinge b and the foot of the apron will fall to theroad-bed ready to receive and pick up or roll off an obstructing body.This tripping effect maybe, as is usual in this class of fen- 10o ders,accomplished both automatically and by intention, or by either method. Ihave here shown both.

F is a trigger-guard hinged at its upper end under the car in advance ofthe fender proper. From this guard a rod f extends rearwardly to and isconnected with the trigger-lever E. An obstructing body coming incontact with the triggerguard F will force it back, and thus cause thetrigger-lever E to be forced back, with the result of dropping thefender, as previously explained. \Vhen thus dropped, the fender cannotbe forced up again by the obstructing body, both by reason of theinherent construction of the apron, the steel rods of which tend to beforced down rather than up, and also by reason of the downturned end (1of arm D bearing against the cross-pin c, and thus preventing movementabout hinge b.

The foot-trip to be operated by the motorman or gripman, if he havetime, consists of a treadle or foot-piece G, extending up through thecar-floor and adapted to rock a shaft 9, a crank g of which is let intothe connectingrod f.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is

1. A car-fender comprising an apron the foot of which is carriednormally above the road-bed, a cross-plate hinged to the truckframe andto which the apron is connected, an arm secured to said cross-plate, inposition to control its hinge and hold the apron up in its normalposition, and means forholding said arm to maintain the apron in saidposition, and releasing said arm to drop said apron with its footresting on the road-bed, and means for yieldingly retaining said holdingmeans in active position.

2. A car-fender comprising an apron the foot of which is carriednormally above the road-bed, a cross-plate hinged to the truckframe andto which the apron is connected, an arm secured to said cross-plate inposi tion to control its hinge,a trigger-lever hinged to the truck-frameand having a pin bearing above said arm to hold it down, and means forswinging the trigger-lever to cause its pin to release the arm, wherebythe apron may drop to restits foot upon the roadway.

A car-fender comprising an apron the foot of which is carried normallyabove the road-bed, a cross-plate hinged to the truckframe and to whichthe apron is connected, an arm secured to said cross-plate in positionto control its hinge, said arm having a downturned rear end, aspring-controlled trigger-lever hinged to the truck-frame and having apin bearing above said arm and seated normally against a shoulderthereon, whereby the apron is held up in normal position,and means forswinging the trigger-lever to carry its pin free of the arm which isthereby released aud rises with its downturned rear end bearing againstthe pin, whereby the apron is dropped to rest its foot on the road-bedand is there held.

4. A car-fender comprising an apron the foot of which is carriednormally above the road-bed, a cross-plate hinged to the truckframe andto which the apron is connected, an arm secured to said cross-plate inposition to control its hinge, said arm having a downturned rear end, aspring-controlled trigger-lever hinged to the truck-frame and having apin bearing above said arm and seated normally against a shoulderthereon, whereby the apron is held up in normal position, and the fronttrigger-guard and connections for swinging the trigger-lever to carryits pin free of the arm which is thereby released and rises with itsdownturned rear end bearing againstthe pin, whereby the apron is droppedto rest its foot on the road-bed and is there held.

5.. A car-fender consisting of an apron the foot of which is carriednormally above the road-bed, a cross-plate back of said apron and hingedat its lower edge to a beam of the truck-frame, downwardly andbackwardly extending arms connecting the head of the apron with thecross-plate, an arm secured to the upper edge of the cross-plate andextending rcarwardly and means for holding and releasing said arm tocontrol the hinged cross-plate, and to hold the apron in its normalposition and to drop it, to rest its foot on the road-bed.

6. A car-fender consisting of an apron, the foot of which. is carriednormally above the road-bed, a cross-plate back of said apron and hingedat its lower edge to a beam of the frame, downwardly and backwardlyextending carrying-arms connecting the head of the apron with thecross-plate, an arm secured to the upper edge of the cross-plate andextending rearwardly, a swinging trigger-lever with a pin bearing on thearm to hold it, and means for operating the trigger-lever to release thearm, whereby the apron is released to drop its foot to the road-bed.

7. A car-fender consisting of an apron, the foot of which is carriednormally above the road-bed, a cross-plate back of said apron and hingedat its lower edge to a beam of the truck-frame, downwardly andbackwardly extending arms connecting the head of the apron with thecross-plate, an arm secured to the upper edge of the cross-plate andextending rearwardly, said arm having a downturned rear end, aspring-controlled triggerlever hinged to the truck-frame and having apin bearing above said arm and seated normally against a shoulderthereon, whereby the apron is held up in normal position, and means forswinging the trigger-lever to carry its pin free of the arm which isthereby released and rises with its downturned rear end bearing againstthe pin, whereby the apron is dropped to rest its foot on the road-bedand is there held.

8. A car-fender consisting of an apron, the

foot of which iscarried normally above the road-bed, a cross-plate backof said apron and hinged at its lower edge to a beam of the truck-frame,downwardly and backwardly extending arms connecting the head of theapron with the cross-plate, an arm secured to the upper edge'of thecross-plate and extending rearwardly, said arm having a downturned rearend, a spring-controlled triggerlever hinged to the truck-frame andhaving a pin bearing above said arm and seated normally against ashoulder thereon, whereby the apron is held up in normal position, and

' the front trigger-guard and connections for swinging the trigger-leverto carry its pin free of the arm which is thereby released and riseswith its downturned rear end bearing against the pin, whereby the apronis dropped to rest its foot on the road-bed and is there held.

9. A car-fender consisting of an apron composed of a series ofspring-rods bent to form composed of a series of spring-rods bent to,form a scoop and having their upper ends secured to a common head, armshinged to said head, and springs to hold the apron up with its footnormally above the road-bed, a crossplate' hinged to the truck-frame andto which the arms of the apron are secured, an arm secured to saidcross-plate, a trigger-lever with a pin to hold and release said arm andto permit the apron to drop its foot to the roadbed, and the fronttrigger-guard and connections for operating the trigger-lever.

11. In a car-fender, a cross-plate hingedly supported from the car, anapron hingedly supported at its upper end by said crossplate, a springfor holding the foot of said apron normally above the road-bed, holdingmeans for said cross-plate, and means for releasing said holding meansto drop'said crossplate and apron carried thereby. I

12. A car-fender comprising an apron, a cross-plate hinged to thetruck-frame, arms secured to said cross-plate to which arms said apronis hinged, springs to hold the apronfoot yielding above the road-bed, anarm secured to said cross-plate, a trigger-lever to hold and releasesaid arm, and means for operating the trigger-lever.

In witness whereof I hereunto set my hand.

GEORGE WILLARD DOUGLAS.

Witnesses:

CLARENCE S. MERRILL, J. L. WILLCUTT.

